Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on July 19, 2011
Dongle Adds USB, SD and MicroSD to iPad
Apple’s iPad Camera Connection Kit is a wonderful thing, although overpriced at $30. Not only can you use it to inject photos from your camera direct into the tablet’s brain, you can also hook up all manner of USB peripherals, from keyboards to microphones to thumb-drives.
MIC Gadget’s 3-in-1 adapter does all this, and more. It combines Apple’s two small, easy-to-lose widgets into one slightly larger, slightly harder-to-lose package, putting an SD card reader and USB port into one plastic box. The extra is a micrSD slot, which is actually all but useless: the only way it would work is if your cellphone saves its photos into a standard folder named “DCIM”, which is what will trick the iPad into reading them.
There’s one thing that MIC Gadget’s version had in common with the official Apple version: it costs $30. I’d stick with Apple’s overpriced kit: it works, you only have to carry the part you need and it is built to last. It is also available now, unlike this 3-in-1 solution, which ship after Christmas.
3-In-1 iPad Camera Connection Kit [MIC Gadget]
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Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on December 15, 2010
How BlackBerry Could Benefit From a Swedish Redesign
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Research in Motion announced this morning that it acquired Swedish interface design firm TAT, whose initials stand for The Astonishing Tribe.
RIM clearly plans to use the Swedes’ talent to beef up future versions of the BlackBerry user interface, which despite the addition of touchscreen tech in the last year still seems clunky and quaint compared to iOS, Android and Windows Phone 7. That could make future BlackBerry phones — not to mention the upcoming Playbook tablet — a whole lot more exciting.
That got us wondering: What might the future, TAT-enhanced BlackBerry UI look like?
We have no idea, but if these concept videos produced by TAT are any indication, we’re guessing your next BlackBerry might have:
- A touch- and motion-sensitive UI that reponds to your body’s movement as well as your fingers on the screen
- Eye-tracking technology to provide enhanced 3-D effects
- A slicker, easier-to-manage interface for switching between multiple apps
- Eye-popping 2-D and 3-D visuals
What do you think the future holds for BlackBerry? Let us know in the comments.
This page: TAT’s vision of the “Future of Screen Technology” includes some pretty eye-popping examples of touchscreens embedded into every aspect of daily life. A man wakes up and checks the news on a stretchable screen that starts out iPhone-sized, but which he pulls on to make it nearly iPad-sized. A woman brushes her teeth while reading headlines and checking her calendar on a touchscreen mirror. A man composes a sport publication on a translucent touchscreen display whose images he can flip around, so coworkers on the other side of the screen can see them. Cool stuff!
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See Also:
- RIM’s Fighting Apple On Every Front
- RIM Unveils Tethered Tablet, the BlackBerry PlayBook
- BlackBerry OS Makeover Promises Social Feeds, Better Search
- BlackBerry Maker Overhauls Phone Operating System
- BlackBerry 6 Coming to New Curve 3G
An award-winning writer specializing in technology, science and business, Dylan Tweney is a senior editor at Wired.com and publisher of tinywords, the world’s smallest magazine.
Follow @dylan20 and @gadgetlab on Twitter.
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Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on December 2, 2010
Hard Drive Dock Marred by Stupid Novelty Design
As a novelty USB gadget, the Slipper form Brando is a horrible, pointless piece of plastic. Shaped like a flip-flop with shiny red toes peeking out, the Hornettek Slipper would be more at home in the dime store than on any self-respecting geek’s Christmas list.
But ignore those stupid toes, if you can, and the Slipper becomes something you do actually want: a dock for all the raw hard drivers you have tucked away under the bed next to your real slippers. Slip in any 2.5 or 3-inch SATA drive and hook it up via speedy USB 3. Backup is made easy with a dedicated switch (if you have the software installed, and are also running Windows), and those annoying toes (sorry, I can’t ignore them) are in fact an eject-lever: pull it and the drive pops out.
Useful, right? And at $45 it’ll probably actually save you money because you won’t have to buy enclosed backup drives. Available now.
Slipper product page [Brando]
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Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on December 2, 2010
F-Stop Watch: The Perfect Gift for the Photographer You Hate
Geeks like to show their colors. Bike polo geeks will wear jewelry made from old bike-chains, and the tackier car geeks will don Ferrari jackets and caps, hoping to trick people into thinking they actually have something better than a Ford Taurus parked outside,
Camera geeks already have their badge: a big swinging camera around their neck. But for the times when you can’t wear a giant 24-70 2.8 phallus on your chest, the F-Stop watch will do. It has a face with a “fetching” aperture-inspired design, and instead of boring old 1,2,3,4 running around the dial, you get markings at numbers 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6 and so on. The strap is faux-leather, like so many classy camera accessories, and it is made in China, just like almost everything in your kit-bag.
Want one? No, me either, but if you insist on inflicting a themed gift on a “loved” one this Christmas, you could do a lot worse, and it’s just $36. And if he or she is a Canon owner, may I interest you in my own entrepreneurial Christmas gift? It’s a “My other Camera is a Nikon” sticker (kidding!).
F-Stop Watch [Uncommon Goods via Oh Gizmo]
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Source:wired.com
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on November 29, 2010
Flip-Top Dell Inspiron Duo Makes a Terrible Tablet
Dell’s Inspiron Duo is ready to buy. You may remember the clever flip-top netbook from its long gestation period: it can be either a tablet or a laptop or – with an optional dock- a small media center.
The trick is in the lid of this otherwise humdrum machine. The multi-touch panel is suspended within the screen-bezel and spins on its horizontal axis, facing out or in depending on need. The specs are as you’d expect: 1.5GHz Atom N550, 320GB, 10-inch multitouch display, 1.3MP webcam and a pair of USB ports.
The netbook part surely works fine: Dell has gotten pretty good at that. But the tablet part is little more than a gimmick. It’ll work with the installed Windows 7 OS, but not well, unless you have sharp, mouse-pointer-shaped fingers. So Dell has included its Stage interface, which can be used for browsing music, movies and photos. If you want a nice, finger-friendly way to surf the web or send a mail then you’re out of luck.
The biggest problem is the price. As specced, you’ll need to pay $550, plus another $100 for the JBL speaker dock (which also adds ethernet and more USB ports). This computer seems little more than a cynical cash-in, a product trying to get in on the current tablet hotness without actually making a proper tablet.
Inspiron Duo product page [Dell. Thanks, Amanda!]
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Source:wired.com
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on November 24, 2010
Mr. Digital Clover, Your New Lo-Fi Photographic Friend
Mr Digital Clover, or Digi Clover San, is a tiny 2.0-megapixel piece of plastic junk. He will be your new best friend. Clover San is a camera small enough to string on a keychain ( 1.5 x 2.4 x 0.8-inches) and yet powerful enough to capture some of the most color-shifted, low-res photographs you could hope for. Think of him as a Holga, only smaller, and without the cost of film and processing.
In addition to the 2MP sensor, the camera has an 2.8 lens, automatic exposure and white balance, 4MB internal memory and an SD-card slot. The optical viewfinder is a pop-up plastic lens and the rear panel is an LCD which shows shots fired and the mode you are using – choose from self-timer, burst and video. Actually, don’t choose video, because it looks horrible, unlike the dreamy, lo-fi results from the stills part: Video is recorded at 320 x 240 at a mere 10-fps.
The appeal of these cameras is, I guess, the unpredictability of film, only without the costs. There’s no way to check the pictures until you get home (or at least slot the SD-card into an iPad) and no controls to tweak. You just shoot, and go. Happy accidents ensue. Digi Clover San is available now, and will be you friend for just $55.
Mr. Digital Clover, Keychain Camera [Photojojo]
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Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on October 19, 2010
LED Vodka Bottle ‘Better than Canned Beer’
Yes, better than canned beer. Those are the sacrilegious words of MEDEA co-founder Matt Sandy, speaking in this wonderfully chintzy spot on ABC about his company’s gimmicky vodka bottle. The hook? The bottle has a scrolling LED display on the side, with messages of up to 255-letters programmable by the user. If you’re a fan of low-quality TV, and awkward-looking men in badly-fitting suits, take a look:
At first the idea seems doomed. Who on Earth would pay $40 for a bottle as tacky as this one? And then you realize just how dumb and horny people get when they drink. You see the shot in the promo video where the guy walks off with a girl under one arm and a bottle in his hand? That’s what this is all about: getting laid. The boys will order this in a bottle-service bar for a few hundred dollars and start sending messages to the ladies. Here’s the proof, in the form of the tagline from the MEDEA site: “Unleash your inner poet, your inner poet, your inner philosopher, your inner flirt.” Terrifying.
Here’s where you expect me to point out the flaws, and you will not be disappointed. I give you exhibit A, the programming instructions. As you read, remember that these steps need to be carried out whilst intoxicated:
Step 1: Press the ON/OFF button
Step 2: Press the ENTER button to enter programming mode
Step 3: Press the P-U (UP) to select line (1-6) to save message in
Step 4: Press ENTER to confirm the line where the message will appear
Step 5: Press the P-U and P-D buttons to find the first character of your message, and press ENTER to save after each character selection. Note: space can be found after the letter Z.
Step 6: To finish, after you have selected the last character, wait until you see a blinking A, then press the ON/OFF to save the entire message.
Youre all set! Your message will now begin to scroll on the ticker.
Note: Do not leave the display on in the programming mode. Press either the P-U (DOWN) or the ON/OFF button to exit the programming mode.
What could possibly go wrong?
The vodka inside comes from Holland, a country well known for its vodka, and is triple-distilled like any other premium vodka. The ‘Worlds first customizable, programmable bottle’ is available in South Carolina and tacky bars all over the US.
MEDEA product page [MEDEA. Thanks, Valerie!]
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Source:wired.com
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on October 4, 2010
Etch A Sketch iPad Case
Here’s how to make some cash: Take one Etch A Sketch ($18), rip out its guts and call it an iPad case. Now, sell it for $39. You just made $21, and you still have a snuff of magnetic-dust left over.
This is what case-maker Headcase is up to, kinda. The Etch A Sketch iPad case is officially licensed from the Ohio Art Company, but it is made to fit the iPad, which is roughly an inch smaller than the Etch A Sketch in length and width, and half an inch thinner. You also get cutouts for the home button and the ambient light sensor (not that the sensor really works so well anyway).
There are more holes around the sides and underneath you’ll discover a pair of kickstands to make typing a little easier. Given that the white knobs on the front do nothing, taking this setup to the coffee-shop and getting some writing done is probably the most fun you can have with this toy. And it is a toy. Take another look at the back (click the thumbnail with the big Apple logo in it, below) and you’ll see it is just as veined and plasticky as any kids’ toy of today.
Still, it’s hard not to love it: It is an Etch A Sketch, after all.
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Etch A Sketch iPad case [Headcase via TUAW]
Source:wired.com
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on September 21, 2010
Portable, Battery-Powered Turntable. For Playing Records
If a gadget is on sale in Urban Outfitters, it’s a fair bet that its a piece of junk. The curious combination of good clothes and crappy novelty gifts is obviously aimed at ironic impulse-buyers, but the Crosley Radio Revolution is possibly the weirdest thing yet.
The Revolution is a small, portable, battery-powered turntable. Yes, a turntable for playing records. It comes with the requisite retro-styling and 1950s colorways, but just who will buy it? At $180, it is too much to buy as a joke gift for a friend who maybe still has a couple of LPs on the shelves. But it’s doubtlessly tinny built-in stereo speaker and lightweight tonearm aren’t going to do it for the real vinyl junkie: if you’re still buying grooved disks then you’re probably an audiophile or luddite. Either way the Revolution is not for you.
The Revolution does at least come with a USB-cable and software for ripping records to a computer. I imagine scouring rare-record dealers’ stores with one of these and a netbook or even iPad and quietly copying tunes in the listening booths.
Even if you do want this, you should avoid Urban Outfitters anyway. They might have an exclusive on those muted colors, but they also have an exclusive on that price. Buy on the web or slip over to JC Penny and you can have the black one for $30 less, at $150. Coming “soon”.
Revolution product page [Crosley. Thanks, Jenny!]
Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.
Source:wired.com
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on September 16, 2010
Fat QWERTY Keyboard Turns iPhone 4 into Giant Plastic Slab
The Nuu Mini Key case takes a perfectly respectable iPhone 4 and turns it into a big, fat, ugly slab of corporate crap, which looks and works just like every other smartphone with a slide-out landscape QWERTY.
I might not be the best person to judge, as I actually type faster on virtual keyboards than on actual real physical keyboards, but it seems silly to add little plastic chiclets to what it arguably the best soft-keyboard around. If you want to feel the clicks when you’re typing, go grab a Blackberry: they’re great. If you’re still here, read on to find out if you really want the Nuu.
The little keyboard slides and tilts from under the back of the iPhone 4, turning it into a tiny laptop-style device. The keyboard itself is backlit, and connects to the iPhone via Bluetooth. This means that it needs its own battery, which is presumably what makes the thing so hideously overweight. The folks at Engadget Spanish got a hands-on with the little accessory and pronounced the buttons as hard to press. This is no surprise. Put the thing on a desk and you’re poking at it with fingertips. Hold it in your hands to thumb-type and the phone-part will flap around like a fish on the quayside.
Should you still be in the market for this bulky and minimally functional case, it’ll be on sale sometime later this year for $60 or 60, depending on where you are.
Nuu Mini Key protege y complementa tu iPhone 4 a partes iguale [Engadget Spanish]
Photo: Engadget Spanish
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Source:wired.com
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on September 7, 2010
Bottle Cap Punch Makes You Look Pretty Tough
The BottleBob Bottle Cap Punch is a gimmick, a gee-gaw, a single-purpose uni-tasking tchotchke. But despite this, what it does is pretty awesome. It cuts holes in the metal caps of soda-bottles so, when you insert a regular plastic straw, it looks like you somehow punched that thing right through it, you old tough-guy you.
The plastic and metal punch also falls firmly into the category of “tat”. For those unfamiliar with this word, it comes from British English (aka “quaint” English) and has the following meaning in the New Oxford American Dictionary: “tasteless or shoddy clothes, jewelry, or ornaments”.
Still, imagine what this little widget could do for your reputation. If you can pierce a metal cap with a flimsy plastic tube, you could probably also… Well, I’ll leave that up to your imagination. $27, available now.
BottleBob Bottle Cap Punch [Epaulet Shop]
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Source:wired.com
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on July 30, 2010
Screen-Protector for Magic Mouse: Why?
Most people I know who have an Apple Magic Mouse hate it. They hate the carpal-tunnel-inflaming multi-touch gestures, and they hate the stupid shape, which fits nobody’s hand. One thing they probably don’t hate, though, is the resilient glass surface on top.
Even the most cautious of Magic Mouse lovers would likely shy away from this $15 MouseGuard, essentially a screen-protector for something that sits on a desk all day. A screen-protector makes sense when that screen is swinging around your neck (camera) or sitting in your pocket with some carelessly forgotten keys (phone), but not when the worst that could befall the glass panel is being lightly scraped with an untrimmed fingernail.
It’s not even like you need to look through the screen. Seeing a scratch on the LED panel of your $800 camera is frustrating at best, but a mouse is something that is always covered by your hand when in use. In fact, the MouseGuard comes in two opaque flavors, white and gray.
What next? A case to protect your case? Even my friend Pedro, who buys cases for pretty much everything he owns and will likely be spending the next few weeks handling his new iPad with cotton gloves until he finds the perfect sleeve, would shy away from the MouseGuard. And when it comes to protecting gear from scratches, Pedro is an expert. You should listen to him.
MouseGuard [Moshi Mode via Oh Gizmo]
Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.
Source:wired.com
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on July 29, 2010
‘Jackpot Slots’ Dock Turns iPhone into One-Armed-Bandit
Experience a little bit of Las Vegas in your own home or office with Jackpot Slots for the iPhone: a USB dock with a knob-topped lever on the side which turns the phone into a one-armed-bandit.
The plastic block costs $40, and the accompanying application is free in the App Store. Just pull the lever and “enjoy” the slot-machine experience. There’s even a proper contest which buyers can enter: score enough points and you’ll be included in a competition to win a real trip to Vegas, or even money.
Sadly, the real experiences of Las Vegas aren’t replicated. While you could sit in your office chair with a cup full of quarters, tossing them in the trash as you play, nobody will bring you free drinks, and no arrogant idiots in too-short shorts, sandals, socks and baseball-caps will be blighting an otherwise well-designed gaming floor and worst of all, there will be no hidden speakers tootling out musak from the bushes, trees and fake rocks lining the streets.
Still, as docks go, Jackpot Slots isn’t a bad one. It works just like any other to charge and sync, and if you pull the lever all the way forwards, your iPhone or iPad Touch will pop out. Just like the eye of that cheating gambler in Scorsese’s Casino when they squeezed his head in a vice.
Jackpot Slots [New Potato via Cult of Mac]
Jackpot Slots [iTunes]
Source:wired.com
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on July 19, 2010
Gorillapod-Inspired Tripod Looks Like Robot Skeleton
Clearly “inspired” by Joby’s popular Gorillapod, the RM-110 Spide (yeah, we know: spelling fail) from Fotopro is another flexible, ball-jointed camera tripod. Unlike the Gorillapod, the Spide looks like a Terminator’s skeleton.
The Spide has a few other differences. First, the feet are interchangeable. You can choose from spikes, suction cups, magnets and regular soft-stepping rubber. Another addition is locking balls: The Gorillapod hangs on tight enough, but the Spide’s joints can be completely immobilized by clamping them shut with a screwdriver. This is probably less useful than it sounds: one of the best features of the Gorillapod is that it is so quick to deploy.
I wonder, too, about the build quality. A look at Fotopro’s site isn’t exactly confidence-inspiring. Amongst the odd sections (“shooting-sticks” and “working sticks”) you’ll such wonders as the “Charming Red Tripod” and the “Self-Fotor“. If you’re interested, the Spide will make it onto US soil in the last part of the year, for around $60. Those of you who are annoyed by bad spelling might want to save up a few Rs (or even a Y) in the meantime.
Fotopros fully adjustable flexible tripod with interchangeable feet [Gizmag]
Product Site [Fotopro]
Image credit: Gizmag
Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter..
Source:wired.com
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on July 15, 2010
Tiny USB Mailbox Alerts You to ‘Deliveries’
I’m sure I’ll get slaughtered in the comments for posting about this piece of plastic junk, but it’s so damn cute I’m going to do it anyway. The plastic tat in question is the USB Mail Box Friends Alert from beloved crap-vendor Brando.
The little dongle looks like a tiny red US-style mailbox, and hooks up to a free USB port. Companion software monitors you mail account, your Twitter or your Facebook and lights red or green up to tell you there is an update. You can even have your computer play a little sound at the same time, and the plastic flag on the side will actually raise.
The software is Windows-only (Window 7, Vista and XP) but I’m sure some clever hacker can put together a plugin for the Growl notification system on the OS X. If I could have this hooked up to the Delivery Status app on my Mac dashboard, which monitors real, meatspace deliveries, and have it pop up a warning when a package arrives, then my $18 would already be on its way to Brando’s magic crap-factory.
USB Mail Box Friends Alert [Brando via Oh Gizmo]
Source:wired.com
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on July 8, 2010
The $37 Laptop. For Real
Walk into any toy store and you’ll see a “laptop” “computer”, a plastic clamshell that has all of the design cues of a notebook: keyboard, screen, some ports and switches, but none of the power. It’s cheap enough to buy for (and disappoint) a kid, but it isn’t of course a real computer. It probably has a few built in games and that’s it.
The Ebay $37 laptop is almost that same machine, although it looks even more like the computers it pretends to be. It runs Windows CE on a 300 MHz ARM VIA processor with 128kb RAM and a whopping 2GB storage. The huge bezel around the tiny 7-inch 800 x 480 screen has space for a pair of speakers either side, and you even get an ethernet jack and a couple USB ports (take that, iPad) along with Wi-Fi. You can also slot-in an SD card.
What’s the catch (apart from the extraordinarily underpowered internals)? There appears to be none. These are factory seconds or items which have failed quality control tests. They may or may not come with original packaging, and they ship from Hong Kong. Sound risky? C’mon. They’re $37. What do you expect? It’s almost worth it just for the AC adapter (9 volts, if you care).
If you run into Nicholas Negroponte and he’s still trying to make his $100 OLPC, point him to this, okay?
7″ Mini Laptop Netbook Computer Notebook WIFI WindowsCE [Ebay via Netbook News. Thanks, Sascha!]
Source:wired.com
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on June 29, 2010
Cheap Manual Lenses Ported to Samsung NX
The lens is the most important part of your camera. It controls everything about the light that hits the sensor short of the length of the shutter speed. It is much better to put a great lens on a cheap camera than the other way around, something which goes frustratingly unheeded: just check a few photo forums to see people sticking crappy kit lenses onto Nikon D700s and Canon 5D MkIIs.
That’s not to say that Samyang’s range of lenses for Samsung’s mirrorless NX-series are bad. Without testing we won’t know for sure, but experience says that own-brand lenses are best, followed by those from top-tier third party makers like Sigma.
Three lenses are being ported to the Samsung mount. An 8mm 3.5, a 14mm 2.8 and an 85mm 1.4. Of these, the 8mm would seem to be the most interesting. It will come in at around 12mm (35mm equivalent) on the NX APS-C sensor, and usually the main point with a fisheye is impact rather than absolute quality. The price has not yet been announced but the lens can be had for as little as $350 in other mounts.
The 85mm, on the other hand, is a flat-out portrait lens and goes for around $400. In this case, quality needs to be high. If Samyang manages this, then the 1.4 lens will be an absolute bargain.
Tempted? Think twice. There is one huge drawback when using the lenses on a modern camera: No autofocus. This will probably be fine for the fisheye, but try that with the insanely shallow depth-of-field that an 85mm 1.4 will give you and you’ll learn a thing or two about manual focussing and just how wobbly your hands really are.
Product page [Samyang via BJP]
Source:wired.com
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on June 28, 2010
Carmen: Internet Radio On Your Car Radio via Radio
Wouldn’t it be great if you could listen to internet radio in your car? With Livio’s new Carmen, you can, provided you’re happy with a rather weird, convoluted, time-consuming and almost Rube Goldberg-esque experience.
The best way to give you an idea of the whole complicated mess is to describe the process. First, plug the Carmen into your computer, fire up the companion software and then choose the from the internet radio stations available (“more than 42,000 stations”). The Carmen will then record these for you, DVR-style, in real-time. To make that clear, you won’t be downloading an hour-long show in seconds like you would with a podcast: you’ll be waiting an hour for it.
Once the 2GB stick is loaded up, you take it to the car and plug it into the cigarette-lighter socket. Then you turn on the car’s radio. The Carmen works by sending the MP3s via FM (although you can opt for an aux cable). It even comes with a small remote control so you can search on the floor for that instead of squeezing the Carmen’s tiny buttons.
To recap: You spend hours recording radio shows only to re-broadcast them to your car stereo. And for this you spend $60. Alternatively you could just use the radio in your car, or hook up the cellphone or MP3 player you already have to your car stereo. That would cost you nothing.
For all my complaints, I admit I have a soft spot for the Carmen: the idea of recording songs and shows off the radio to listen to in the car takes me back to my childhood. Thank goodness somebody is applying today’s tech to 1970s problems.
Available for pre-order now.
Carmen Car Audio Player [Livio. Thanks, Joe!]
Source:wired.com
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on June 23, 2010
